Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHANGE SWEEPETH OVER ALL, by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography Last Line: Clay claspeth clay! Alternate Author Name(s): Brown, Isaac Subject(s): Change | ||||||||
Change sweepeth over all! In showers leaves fall From the tall forest tree; On to the sea Majestic rivers roll, It is their goal. Each speeds to perish in man's simple seeming, ''" Each disappears; One common end o'ertakes life's idle dreaming Dust, darkness, tears! Day hurries to its close: The sun that rose A miracle of light, Yieldeth to night The skirt of one vast pall O'ershadows all, Yon firmamental cresset lights forth shining, Heaven's highest horn! Droop on their thrones, and, like pale spirits pining, Vanish with morn. O'er cities of old days, Dumb creatures graze; Palace and pyramid In dust are hid Yea, the sky-searching tower Stands but its hour. Oceans their wide-stretched beds are ever shifting, Sea turns to shore, And stars and systems through dread space are drifting, To shine no more. Names perish that erst smote Nations remote, With panic, fear, or wrong; Heroic song Grapples with time in vain; On to the main Of dim forgetfulness for ever rolling, Earth's bubbles burst; Time o'er the wreck of ages sternly tolling The last accurst. The world is waxing old, Heaven dull and cold ; Nought lacketh here a close Save human woes. Yet they too have an end, ''" Death is man's friend: Doomed for a while, his heart must go on breaking Day after day, But light, love, life, ''" all, ''" all at last forsaking, Clay claspeth clay! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWO WOMEN: OR A CCONVERSATION WITH SAHARA NILE by E. ETHELBERT MILLER THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT by JOHN ASHBERY WHEN THE WEATHER CHANGES TO WARM, THE BOYS DRIVE SHIRTLESS by MARY JO BANG AN ELEGY FOR THE PAST by MARVIN BELL TODAY'S NOT OPPOSITE DAY by CHARLES BERNSTEIN WHEN I WAS TWENTY-SIX by ROBERT BLY THE CHANGED WOMAN by LOUISE BOGAN SO IT'S TODAY by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR JEANIE MORRISON by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL |
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